In Acts 16:1212And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days. (Acts 16:12) we read, “A certain disciple... named Timotheus.” This is the first reference we have to Timothy. Now you may be a Christian without being a “disciple” and you may be a “disciple” without being a Christian. “Disciple” means “learner” and “Timothy” means “honoring God.” What a lovely connection we get.
Have you been saved? Is the character of your Christian life going to be such that you will always be honoring God? The man of this world seeks honor for himself. The character of Timothy comes out in his name, “honoring God.” May your life and mine be of that character.
Learning Comes After Honoring
The next thing is a “learner.” The moment you are saved, you step into the house of God and the school of God. In that school, what the Spirit of God is seeking to do is to so write Christ upon our hearts that the motive spring of all we do should be Christ. The means God uses is twofold. One is the Scripture of truth; the other is circumstances.
Learning From the Word of God
How precious when we learn in the school of God by reading and meditation on the Word. That is why Paul exhorts Timothy, “Till I come, give attendance to reading.... Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them” (1 Tim. 4:13,1513Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. (1 Timothy 4:13)
15Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. (1 Timothy 4:15)). That is the better way learning in the school of God through reading and meditation of the Word of God. That is a blessed way to learn.
The Lord Jesus was the perfect, dependent Man. He was the One according to the first psalm who meditated day and night in the law of the Lord. As the dependent Man, His life was the manifestation of that meditation. How precious it is to contemplate the history of our blessed Saviour down here.
Learning Through Circumstances
There is not one of us who does not need to learn through circumstances. How bitter those circumstances often become when the flesh rebels. I have often remarked that a dependent man will never have a fall. Thus may we learn to begin our day as a dependent man, seeking help from above.
Judging Thoughts Instead of Actions
Young people, form the habit in your lives and remember that the thought always precedes the act. If you remember to judge the thoughts your brethren do not see, you will never have to judge the actions that your brethren do see. How often a thought arises which our brethren do not see at all, and the sense of our utter weakness gives us humility of spirit. Perhaps when you see anger break out in another, you turn and say, “But for the grace of God it would break out in me too.”
Power Comes From Walk
I remember a brother saying after he was saved that he asked God to give him eloquence and a gift to move multitudes. I said to him, “Would it not be better to have the walk of obedience giving power in your ministry, rather than the gift of eloquence?”
If you want power with your children as a father [or mother], you will need to walk in godliness. If you want power where you work, you will need to walk in godliness. If you want power in the assembly of God, it can only be had by walking in godliness.
Valuing Truth, Being Faithful
In 1 Timothy 1:22Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Timothy 1:2) in the JND translation, Timothy is spoken of as “my true child in faith.” That means that Timothy was not only a believer, but he was a true child in the faith. It really means that Timothy valued the deposit of truth that the Apostle had committed to him.
And so in 1 Corinthians 4:1717For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church. (1 Corinthians 4:17) we read, “Who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord.” Is not that a lovely commendation? I do not believe Timothy was necessarily a “good gospel preacher,” but he was faithful in the Lord. Of him Paul could say, “Who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church.” Though Barnabas, and afterward even Silas, dropped out of service with Paul, dear Timothy continued faithful to the end. May God keep you and me faithful to the end.
H. E. Hayhoe (from an address, 1948)